AMSTERDAM—Shares of Philips Lighting NV jumped on their market debut Friday after parent company Royal Philips NV sold a 25% stake in the 125-year-old business.

The stock traded more than 7% higher at €21.50 in Amsterdam, in what was one of the largest listings in Europe so far this year.

Philips on Thursday said it sold a 25% stake in Philips Lighting for â,¬20 a share, slightly below the midpoint of a range of €18.50 to €22.50 announced last week. The offering valued the business at €3 billion ($3.3 billion). Philips plans to sell its entire stake in the coming years.

The sale, which was first announced in September 2014, is the final step in a yearslong restructuring spearheaded by Chief Executive Frans van Houten. It will mark the end of Philips as a sprawling conglomerate that produced everything from lightbulbs and television sets to medical scanners and coffee machines.

The Dutch technology group had been in talks with potential buyers about a sale but eventually decided that a stock market listing was preferable due to improved sentiment in financial markets. The IPO market in Amsterdam has heated up in recent weeks as companies are in a hurry to list ahead of next month's referendum on the U.K.'s membership of the European Union.

SNS Securities, a Dutch brokerage firm, said Philips sold its stake at a relatively large discount compared with other lighting companies such as Germany's Osram Licht AG. "All in all some discount makes sense, as Philips wants the offer to be successful and Philips still has the majority share," it said.

Philips started making its first incandescent lightbulbs in 1891 in the southern city of Eindhoven. It grew to become one of Europe's biggest technology giants, credited with innovations such as the compact disc and the electric shaver.

Over the past decade, the company embarked on a dramatic strategic overhaul as it was dogged by profit warnings and criticism that its diversified corporate structure was slowing it down. Mr. van Houten, a company veteran who took the helm in 2011, has described restructuring Philips as similar to running a marathon.

The Amsterdam-based company will now seek to concentrate on selling health-care technology and services in a market where it competes with General Electric Co. and Siemens AG. It believes the health-care business is more profitable and offers better long-term growth opportunities.

Philips has a good record when it comes to spinning off assets. ASML Holding NV and NXP Semiconductors NV, two former Philips subsidiaries, have fared well after being spun off in the 1990s and 2000s. Both semiconductor companies now have a bigger market value than their former parent.

The future of Philips Lighting, the world's biggest lighting company with €7.5 billion in revenue last year, may be less bright. The business still makes most of its profit from producing conventional lamps, a market that is in structural decline, while its fast-growing LED business is facing competition.

To become less reliant on manufacturing, Philips management has been seeking to shift the focus of the business to services, such as supplying lighting systems for cities, sporting venues and theaters.

Write to Maarten van Tartwijk at maarten.vantartwijk@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 27, 2016 04:45 ET (08:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
ASML Holding NV (EU:ASML)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Fev 2024 até Mar 2024 Click aqui para mais gráficos ASML Holding NV.
ASML Holding NV (EU:ASML)
Gráfico Histórico do Ativo
De Mar 2023 até Mar 2024 Click aqui para mais gráficos ASML Holding NV.